Jim Klocke, CEO of the Massachusetts Council of Nonprofits, speaks about the challenges facing nonprofits. 

 

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — Nonprofit organizations are seeing increased need coupled with funding challenges from federal cuts. 

On Wednesday, the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires hosted a regional meeting on the impacts of federal funding cuts with the Massachusetts Council of Nonprofits and sector employees at the Norman Rockwell Museum. 

A statewide nonprofit survey conducted earlier this year shows organizations see an increased demand for services compared to one year ago, specifically around food, and 41 percent of nonprofits have expanded services in response to federal policy changes. 

"There is more demand out there. Nonprofits are expanding services to meet that demand. That just leaves one challenge: How do you pay for it all?" said Jim Klocke, CEO of the Massachusetts Council of Nonprofits. 

"…We ask this question actually every year in our own member surveys, and generally, about half the nonprofits say their financial condition is better than it was a year ago, about a quarter say it's the same, and about a quarter say it's worse. It's different this year. Majorities say their financial condition is worse than it was a year ago. We wish that were not the case, but it's the reality."

According to the National Council of Nonprofits, these actions include an attempted federal funding freeze in early 2025, DOGE's review and termination of grants, executive orders targeting specific issues and program areas, federal investigations of nonprofits, and threats to revoke their tax-exempt status, among others. 

This Massachusetts nonprofit sector is one of the largest in the country, with 550,000 people totaling 17 percent of the workforce. MCN has more than 600 nonprofit members from the Berkshires to the Cape and Islands, and 41 percent of them expect to have weaker financial positions in 2027. 

The council is working on an agenda to protect nonprofit organizations' statuses in response to federal actions that restrict or cut off funding for nonprofits, among several other actions outlined during the meeting.